Back-Up

by A. m Madden

  Oh for God’s sake.

  I’ve had enough of this display.

  “Well ok then…I got to get back to work.”

  Just as I’m about to walk away, Jack takes hold of my elbow. “Wait.” He starts jumbling out his next sentence nervously. “Um, we are having a party Sunday night at our place. Yeah, um, we would love if you ladies could come. Maybe bring the guys, too?” This is strange, as Jack doesn’t do nervous. He’s clearly uncomfortable and has me wondering why he’s bothering with the invite?

  Even though Jack is speaking to me, Lori nods her head like a bobble-head and speaks for all of us. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  The chain of events that occurs next has me staring numbly as if I am watching a car crash in slow motion. Lori gives Jack her best Lori-is-most-definitely-into-you doe eyes. Jack graces Lori with his CCDS smile. Lori fans herself and winks. Jack laughs again. Lori bats her eyelashes.

  Ugh. The entire exchange has me nauseous.

  Wait. Was his invite a last minute decision once he met Lori? Is my invitation a ruse? Damn it…I DID NOT see this coming.

  “Lei, we have to go.” Logan says with a definite edge to his voice. Before he walks away, he leans over the bar and whispers something in Alisa’s ear. Her reaction is one of a kid who just got reprimanded for misbehaving. This is not like Logan. He is not usually a jealous person normally. Jack can single-handedly bring the worst out of most men, and the lust out of most women.

  “I have to go. I’ll see you guys later.” I excuse myself to follow Logan to the stage, where Evan, Matt and Joe are waiting for us to resume our show.

  During our second half, I continue to torture myself by watching the flirting duo interact with each other. Hunter has moved back to his table while talking on the phone. Can’t say I blame him. He may as well have been invisible. He also didn’t react to Lori like most men do when they first meet her. Not like Jack is reacting at the moment.

  After Logan walks away, Alisa moves on to help another customer. This leaves Lori and Jack alone to continue their conversation as if no one else existed in the bar, and for me to stew on stage for no logical reason whatsoever.

  Matt keeps glancing over at them making me wonder if this is bothering him as well. He is used to being the best looking guy in the room. No doubt his jealousy is simmering even more so now that Lori seems to have moved her obsessions to Mr. Lair. Is this part of her plan or has she truly moved on already? It figures the day she decides to get over Matt Rizzo is the same day Jack Lair walks into the bar. What are the odds? I almost feel sympathy for Matt.

  Jack returns to his seat and has a brief conversation with Hunter as they both glance back at Lori while smiling. This totally consumes me. Lori walks over to their table with two beers in hand and is now playing the role of waitress.

  Lori sits in a chair next to Jack and leans into his ear.

  He leans back and she laughs.

  She puts her hand on his arm.

  He grins.

  She gets up leans in and says something.

  He nods.

  She gives them both her best smile.

  They wave.

  She saunters back to the bar and speaks to Alisa.

  Alisa responds.

  Lori nods enthusiastically.

  Watching this play by play unfold from the stage has my own mind racing with jealous, harpy thoughts. I hardly know this guy so why should this bother me so much? I try to break it down piece-by-piece and figure out why the prospect of Lori and Jack together has me tied in knots.

  I am neither attached to Jack, nor do I plan to be. We are co-workers. He is my boss, end of story. On the other hand, I really don’t think I can handle living through a budding romance between a man I clearly lust over and one of my best friends. It would be too painful to watch them fall madly in love.

  By the end of our very long, very torturous show, I have Jack and Lori married with two point five kids, a center hall colonial, a dog, and a minivan.

  Just as they do every night, the boys literally jump off the stage and beeline to the bar for a round of shots. They only do one and it’s always tequila and I always pass. As they all turn right, I turn left towards the back room. Fighting the urge to grab my stuff and exit via back door, instead, I put on my happy face and walk back out to the bar, jacket and bag in tow, ready to make as quick of an exit that I could.

  Our fun, happy bunch is predictably doing their end of night shots. They invite Jack and Hunter to join their holy ritual. Two lonely shots sit on the tray waiting for my ass to arrive to the bar. “I’m not doing a shot.”

  Lori rolls her eyes. “God forbid. This one is mine.” She picks up the tequila and the last shot that is much lighter in color than all the others. “This one is yours. It’s ginger ale.” Matt, Lori and Joe all chuckle at my expense. They tease me mercilessly every single night. Why should tonight be any different?

  Actually the difference is, that tonight I’m going to kill her.

  Evan comes over and throws his arm around my shoulder. “Leave Lei alone.”

  Lori smiles sweetly at Evan. “Ev, are you going to tour with Devil’s Lair, too or is Leila hiring a NEW bodyguard?”

  “That’s not a bad idea Banzini. Things will be boring around here without Leila to bust on.”

  Ignoring Lori and Evan, I turn my attention to Jack and Hunter rolling my eyes. “See what I have to put up with? It was really nice of you guys to come see our show.” Turning back to my friends, I smirk and wave my middle finger at their laughing faces. “I’ll miss you all so much.”

  “Wait, if you don’t like ginger ale, I have apple juice.” Lori antagonizes me.

  “Bite me Banzini.”

  “With pleasure Marino. Bend over.”

  “Ok…I’m outta here.”

  Evan kisses my cheek as I turn from my ball busting, hysterically laughing friends, Jack and Hunter included.

  “Leila, I want to give you our address.” Jack calls out as he rushes to catch up to me.

  “Oh, ok.”

  I plug the address he recites into my phone. We stand facing each other, and I’m pulled into the magnetic field that surrounds him.

  An awkward silence stretches between us.

  “You ok?”

  “Yeah, I’m just exhausted.” I lie from necessity. I’m not in the mood for small talk at the moment. Jack watches me closely for a few seconds.

  “Um, ok, see you at the party Leila?”

  “Yes, we’ll be there. Bye Jack.”

  Jack steps closer so we are face to face. My heart skips a beat, then another. “I’m glad we came tonight. Your band is really good. I knew you were talented, but seeing you performing with your band, I kinda feel like we’ve stolen you from them.” It looks like he wants to say something else, but chooses not to.

  His presence consumes me.

  His words confound me.

  I whisper a very quiet thank you. I’m clearly at a loss for words.

  “Ok, see you Sunday.” Jack looks directly into my eyes, and I fall under the spell of his gaze. He then grips my shoulder as he walks away, leaving me panting and wondering if he is going to wait for Lori to finish her shift.

  Damn it!

  ***

  What do I wear to this stupid thing? I stare at my closet hoping that something presents itself to me. It’s getting late, and I’m almost out of time. I’ve dilly-dallied, had three glasses of wine, which was a big mistake in hindsight as I’m now running around trying to get ready while slightly tipsy – another mistake.

  Evan and Lori are due here any minute. Logan, Alisa, Joseph and Matt are meeting us there. I was surprised that Matt decided to come. My gut instinct was to un-invite him. Evan assured me Matt would be on his best behavior. My response to Evan was that we’d see.

  The door buzzes scaring the crap out of me.

  “I need five minutes.” I call into the intercom, now panicked. Jeans, shirt, mascara, lipstick, a squirt of perfume b
etween my breasts (I have no idea why, no one will be near them tonight) and I’m done in seven minutes. Not bad.

  I take a deep breath and leave my apartment feeling even more buzzed from the adrenaline rush of getting ready in record time.

  On my way down three flights, I consider my original plan of setting Lori up with Hunter.

  Maybe it’s not too late?

  Maybe Hunter will capture her attention tonight?

  Maybe Lori will become deathly allergic to Jack?

  Evan and Lori are sitting in Evan’s car waiting for me. The minute I slide into the back seat, Lori starts yapping.

  “What a week this has been. Lei, you are the best. First you hand me a dream job on a silver platter. Next you introduce me to the best-looking man I have ever seen. Then he invites us to a party at his place. Life is so good.” She reaches back to squeeze my knee.

  I feel bad for being angry with her. It’s not her fault she is so irresistible to men.

  “Evan can you stop at a liquor store? I want to pick up something to bring with us.”

  “Sure, Lei.”

  I settle into the back seat. The soothing motion of the car makes me feel very sleepy all of a sudden.

  Evan watched me through the rear view mirror and asks, “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I’m just a little buzzed.”

  “Buzzed? You? Why are you buzzed?” Lori turns in her seat watching me skeptically.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I am a little nervous about tonight. I had a glass of wine that led to three.”

  Evan and Lori exchange a look, which I decide to ignore. They aren’t my parents. I close my eyes and drift while picturing Jack’s face.

  It takes longer than it should to get to Brooklyn, between my brief catnap, stopping for liquor and the tons of traffic we hit cutting through Manhattan. We are over an hour late by the time we arrive at Jack and Hunter’s building and my buzz is gone. From the sounds coming from the fourth floor, the party is definitely in full swing. Evan carries the case of beer he and Lori split, and I have the bottle of Tequila that I decided on.

  Scott answers the door looking confused until he spots me behind Evan and Lori. “Hey Leila, so glad you could come.”

  “Scott, this is Evan and Lori. Guys, this is Scott. He’s guitarist for Devil’s Lair.”

  Hunter spots us standing at the door. “Hey, you made it” He says walking over. “Your friends got here a little while ago. We were wondering where you were.” He is holding hands with a brunette beauty that is partially hiding behind him. Hunter turns to her and says, “This is Amanda.”

  She smiles shyly and waves.

  Well any small hope I had left of Lori and Hunter hitting it off just took a free-fall off the roof without a parachute. That explains a lot.

  “I’m Leila. This is Evan and Lori.” I turn back to Hunter and shrug. “Sorry, we hit some traffic.”

  I’m instantly distracted as I spot Jack walk into the room. He notices our arrival, and walks straight over to us looking like a runway model. My mouth goes dry and Lori groans besides me and licks her lips like she is about to have him for lunch.

  “Leila, you made it in one piece.” he teases.

  “Evan drove.” I respond defensively. “I was merely a passenger.” Evan gives me a look.

  “So, it’s all your fault Evan.” Jack elaborates while fist punching Evan.

  “Apparently so.” Evan answers sourly.

  Jack turns to hug Lori and then me. Man…he smells so good. He feels even better.

  As Jack and Evan discuss the route we took to get here, Lori leans into me. “He smells so damn good.”

  I smile weakly and nod, wondering why she hasn’t broken out into hives yet.

  God forgive me.

  Evan hands the beer to Hunter and I give my bottle of tequila to Jack. “Awesome. We are almost out. Thanks Leila. Come get something to drink.”

  Jack leads us through the small apartment towards the kitchen. Besides my band, the girls and Devil’s Lair, Patti is here. She waves when she sees me. I have to make it a point to thank her. She is the reason I am now a member of Devil’s Lair. Also mulling around are Scary Sally, Trey, a selection of pretty girls and a few other guys I don’t know. In total there are a few dozen people cramped into this tiny apartment.

  The short counter in the kitchen is littered with liquor bottles of all sorts.

  Jack helps us select our drink of choice and grabs a beer for himself. Not seeing any white, I decide on a rum and diet coke. Jack makes a very strong drink. I casually grab an opened can and add more diet coke to my glass.

  Shrugging, I say, “I’m a light weight. I usually drink cheap white wine.”

  “It has to be cheap?”

  “Yes, otherwise it’s awful.”

  He laughs and rubs my back. Lori catches the whole exchange and is unable to hide a frown. I quickly become the least her problems. As we stand in the small kitchen, three other girls appear from nowhere surrounding Jack like sharks circling a seal. Lori slinks over and stands next to Jack, clearly staking her claim. Damn, she’s already territorial. I saunter out of the kitchen leaving the four beauties to duke it out as best they can.

  Hunter is in a corner huddled close and whispering with Amanda. They make a nice couple. Hunter with his fair spiky hair and adorable smile and Amanda with her exotic long curly hair and warm brown eyes. In hindsight, he isn’t a good match for Lori. He is too sweet. Trey is more her style.

  Wait… I have an idea.

  Wondering if I’m too late with my brand new plan, I look over at Lori who is glued to Jack’s side. But in all fairness the three other girls have gotten closer to him as well. One of them is giving Lori a death stare every time Lori opens her mouth. Jack and Lori have been openly flirting, but surprisingly Jack isn’t making any moves. Although Lori is very touchy, feely, Jack is not. He’s keeping his distance.

  This gives me a glimmer of hope.

  I search for Trey and spot him across the room watching Lori. He doesn’t take his eyes off her. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? He is her typical bad boy rocker type, and I know that she will fall head over heels for him if she gives him just five minutes of her attention. I haven’t spoken more than two words to Trey since I met him, but I can’t let that stop me from putting my plan in motion.

  I nonchalantly walk over to where he is standing. He turns towards me to acknowledge my presence.

  “Having fun Leila?”

  “Yeah, I am.” I respond lamely. I don’t have a thing to say to this man. Standing side by side in complete silence, five seconds in I am starting to feel uncomfortable. Thankfully, I notice Trey’s eyes glued to Lori once again. I seize the opportunity. “Have you met my friend Lori?”

  “No I haven’t. Introduce us.” His request is more of a command.

  “Sure, wait here.” I walk over to where Jack, Lori, and the trio are all downing shots. Lori always becomes the life of the party without even trying. Nothing intimidates this girl, absolutely nothing. She isn’t fazed in the least that the other three are all vying for Jack’s attention. She could give a crap.

  She looks hot in a simple short red tank dress, her signature heels, and her auburn hair that hangs loosely to the middle of her back. While laughing and holding onto Jack’s shoulder, she downs another shot. It’s clear that she is beyond buzzed. I need to change her course of action immediately.

  I lean over and whisper in her ear. “I want you to meet someone.”

  “Oh Lei, take a shot. You need one!” Jack looks amused and holds out the shot glass he just had against his own lips a moment ago. Damn that’s hot.

  Smirking, he says, “I’m afraid we don’t have ginger ale.”

  “Funny.” I take it from his fingers, down the shot, and hand him back the glass in one fast motion.

  Wow, that burns. I detest tequila. How can they down these things so effortlessly?

  Jack laughs at the face I am making. Once the burning st
ops, I feel a slow, warmth spread in the pit of my stomach that feels kinda nice.

  “Want another one?” He asks while staring into my eyes. What I want is to grab his face and shove my tongue down his throat. I really need to have sex before I start working with him or I will be charged with assault.

  “No, I’m good. I just need to borrow Lori for a minute. We’ll be right back.”

  I grab Lori’s arm and pull her across the room. She protests until I stop her smack in front of Trey. Her eyes lose focus for a second and then she gives him a slow smile.

  “Lori, this is Trey Taylor. He is bass guitarist for Devil’s Lair. Trey, this is Lori Banzini, my good friend.” They shake hands, and it’s happening. They check each other out and Trey actually smiles.

  Success!

  I excuse myself after a few minutes of being completely ignored. Looking around the apartment, I try to decide who would be the lesser of all evils. Alisa, Logan, Hunter, Amanda, Scott and Patti are on the couch chatting like old friends. I guess they naturally migrated together since they are the only couples at the party.

  Joseph, Matt, Scary Sally and a few guys are at the table playing some drinking game. Joseph looks relaxed and like he is having fun. Even Matt is smiling and having fun.

  Evan has a cute blonde laughing at his every word. He feels my eyes watching him and turns towards me and smiles.

  Missing in action are Jack and the blond who was shooting daggers at Lori. I feel a touch out of sorts and amble over to the mock bar to get another drink. Everyone else is buzzed and I am not.

  Mixing a rum and diet coke, I feel someone’s breath on my ear.

  “Are you having fun?”

  I jolt around in an extremely clumsy way and spill half my drink. Jack chuckles and says, “Did I scare you?”

  “Yes.” I respond truthfully. He did scare me. He does scare me.

  He grabs a roll of paper towels and bends to clean up the spill.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be silly. It’s no big deal.” He straightens and grabs a half full bottle of Tequila. “Can I show you something?”